(Image credit: ESPN/GQ)
At this point, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s (one-sided) feud has persisted for a few years. The rift was formed due to the docuseries The Last Dance (streamable with a Netflix subscription), which Pippen claims Jordan used to elevate himself and not give other Chicago Bulls teammates their due credit. Since then, various other NBA veterans have weighed in on the pair’s estranged relationship, with some voicing disapproval. Now, another one of their teammates is weighing in on the matter with some measured sentiments.
Bill Cartwright played with the aforementioned duo from 1988 to 1994 as a member of the Bulls and, during that time, the team won three consecutive championships. A former center, known for his dependability, Cartwright has since become an author, and he recently wrote a book, Living Life at the Center. He met up with TMZ Sports to discuss his new memoir, and the rift between his former teammates was mentioned. Based on his comments, Cartwright hasn’t gotten bogged down in the drama but still cares for his colleagues:
…Obviously, I know all those guys. I love Pip, and MJ was a great teammate. I had great teammates my whole time there. [Former head coach] Phil [Jackson’s] still around. If you wanna catch up with him, he’s probably still in Montana. But anything can be written now. So I don’t pay a lot of attention to it. I just know that we won six championships. I don’t have anything to beef about.
It sounds like Bill Cartwright, who was also an assistant coach for the Bulls when they won titles in ‘97 and ‘98, is aiming to dwell on more positive thoughts. Given he possesses that mindset, he was asked if there was some way that he could personally try to help his former teammates mend their relationship. Cartwright doesn’t seem keen on doing that, but he also added some more level-headed thoughts:
Nah, those guys are old guys now, and it’s like – look, all of that happened in the ‘90s. Shouldn’t we be past that by now? … So that’s kinda — what is that? Does that make sense? So what’s that called? Hm, nonsense. So we’ll just leave it alone.
The comments above actually parallel some that were made by another Bulls teammate, Craig Hodges, just a few weeks ago. Hodges surmised that Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s relationship really changed due to the latter also being named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary team. In addition to that, he expressed his hope that Pippen and Jordan would work everything out and added that “we too grown for that shit.”
Over the last several years, other Chicago Bulls players have weighed in on the beef as well. Dennis Rodman chimed in and, while he seemed surprised by the notion of friction between his on-court cohorts, he believed they’d reconcile. However, Charles Oakley offered a grim perspective, as he bluntly opined that any kind of bond that MJ and Pip had is “over.”
Scottie Pippen said, earlier this year, that he and Michael Jordan actually “never were great friends.” Still, fans may wish that whatever issues they may have can be resolved. It’s hard to say whether that’ll actually come to pass, but maybe we ought to (figuratively) take a page out of Bill Cartwright’s book and remain positive about the whole situation.
